Friday, March 5

COMEDY | Harvard Unhinged

Want to see how far your friends will go? Come watch R-rated hypnotist Frank Santos in his one-time appearance at Harvard. This event, sponsored by the Undergraduate Council, is not suitable for those of high school age and under, making it a scandalous—and extrasensory—good time. Tickets $5, $8 Door. 7 p.m. Lowell Lecture Hall. (GCS)

MUSIC | The Mountain Goats

John Darnielle, the man behind the Mountain Goats, performs from his enormous catalogue of emotional, acoustic guitar-driven songs. The Goats’ latest offering, We Shall All Be Healed, marks their twelfth album in less than ten years, and that’s not including EPs, singles and other releases. Come early for the local roots-oriented rock of Choo Choo Larouge and the reflective folk strumming of Manishevitz. Tickets $12. 9:30 p.m. T. T. the Bear’s Place. (SLS)

FILM | Wet Hot American Summer

At midnight of every Friday in March, the Coolidge Corner Theatre will be playing this pants-wettingly hilarious parody of ’80s summer camp movies. And every Friday in March, the Crimson Arts section will feature this film in its Happening section. One of the funniest movies ever. Tickets $9. Midnight. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline. (BBC)

Saturday, March 6

MUSIC | Black Folks Guide to Black Folks

A one-woman comedic performance that was recently greeted with rave reviews in San Francisco. The show’s protagonist must portray an entire neighborhood’s worth of characters, all connected through a musical network of passion and poetry. The show explores such hot topics as homophobia within the black community, obscuring former boundaries and inducing laughs while discussing “sexuality, health, love, faith, and fear.” Includes performances by Kuumba, Baron Wright, Spoken Word Society, Oke Iweala, Shadow Box, the ’O5 Steppers, and Shanti Hubbard. 8:00 p.m. Tickets $7 general, $5 students (2 per ID), $5 Harvard ID Holders (2 per ID). Lowell Lecture Hall. (BBC)

FILM | Kill Bill, Volume One

While the award for Most Violent Film Ever has been recently handed off to Mel Gibson, Quentin Tarantino certainly provides his fair share of splattered glory in last year’s instant midnight-movie classic. Uma Thurman first fights Vivica A. Fox, then Buck (who likes to…rhyme), then eighty eight Japanese mobsters (including a blood-craving, mace-twirling schoolgirl), and finally Lucy Liu. The story’s second (and supposedly better) half has been postponed until April 16, so make sure to experience this first sanguineous volume on the big screen. Tickets $1. 8 p.m. Science Center B. (BBC)

Sunday, March 7

MUSIC | Kronos Quartet

The fearlessly experimental foursome, responsible for haunting masterpieces such as Black Angels and the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack that you downloaded last year, will perform the Boston premiere of composer Terry Riley’s Sun Rings. A joint collaboration with NASA, the performance will combine Riley’s evocative score with a series of breathtaking astral images shot by the Voyager spacecraft, to create a multi-sensory journey into space. Tickets $25-45. 4 p.m. Cutler Majestic Theatre at Emerson College, 219 Tremont St., Boston. (BBC)

Monday, March 8

FILM | Intermission

The Boston Irish Film Festival presents a preview screening of the multi-layered Irish drama. In attendance will be actor Colm Meaney, a veteran actor of films such as The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain and Far and Away, as well as the Star Trek series, where he played Chief Miles Edward O’Brien. He will introduce Intermission, in which he portrays a hotshot detective in pursuit of Colin Farrell’s petty criminal Lehiff. Tickets $10. 7:30 p.m. Brattle Theatre. (BBC)

Tuesday, March 9

MUSIC | The Dresden Dolls

Boston’s own the Dresden Dolls perform their unique and enthralling Brechtian punk cabaret. The girl piano player and boy drummer duo are touring off their stunning 2003 self-titled album. With vivid theatrical costumes and seductively pretentious rock, their live show is one of the most visually and musically exciting out there. Tickets $13. 8 p.m. Axis, 13 Lansdowne Street, Boston. (SLS)

VISUALS | The Man in the Bathtub

Subtitled “Picasso’s Le meutre and the gender of bathing,” this is the third lecture in the continuing “Bathers, Bodies, Beauty : the Visceral Eye” series at Sanders Theatre. The talk will look at the impressionist representation of women and their place in art history. Lecturer Linda Nochlin is a Professor of Modern Art at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts and specializes in the art of the 19th and 20th centuries. Part of the critically acclaimed Norton lecture series. Admission free. 4 p.m., doors opens at 3:30. Sanders Theatre. (GCS)

Wednesday, March 10

MUSIC | The Cooper Temple Clause

After enjoying attention overseas, UK rock band the Cooper Temple Clause take their act on their first ever North American tour. But make sure you arrive early for opener Calla, the talented New York-based group behind last year’s gripping album Televise. Tickets $10. 8 p.m. The Paradise Rock Club. 969 Commonwealth Ave., Boston. (SLS)

FILM | Rear Window

The best film in the Hitchcock canon is sometimes overshadowed by its more influential siblings Psycho and Vertigo. But the story of quadriplegic Jeff Jeffries (James Stewart) and his tedium-induced mission to uncover the possible murder of a neighboring tenant is a gripping exercise in guilty-pleasure voyeurism and paranoid tension. Part of the Harvard Film Archive’s “Frames of Mind” series. Tickets $6. 7 p.m. Harvard Film Archive. (BBC)

MUSIC | British Sea Power

This brooding indie rock quartet from Brighton continue to tour off 2003’s well-received The Decline of the British Sea Power. Known for wild live shows that include stuffed birds perched onstage and military uniforms, British Sea Power offer more excitement than your run of the mill post-punk knockoff. Spunky English rockers KaitO also perform. Tickets $8, $10 day of show. 9:30 p.m. T. T. the Bear’s Place. (SLS)

Thursday, March 11

MUSIC | Mekons

The legendary Leeds-by-way-of-Chicago punk outfit are touring in support of Punk Rock, a collection of new recordings of songs written two decades ago. The material doesn’t quite stand up to the melodies on modern classic OOOH! and fan favorite Fear & Whiskey, but their live show is unforgettable. Madman songwriter extraordinaire Johnny Dowd and Jake Brennan and the Confidence Men open. Tickets $12, $15 day of show. 9 p.m. The Middle East Downstairs. (BBC)

Continuing Events

DANCE | Gunghroo

Presented by the Harvard South Asian Association, this South Asian cultural extravaganza is an annual hit. With several one-act shows, including poetry readings, skits, music, and dances, Gunghroo brings the diversity of South Asian culture to Harvard for the fifteenth year. Runs March 5-6. Tickets $10. 7:30 p.m. with additional Saturday 2 p.m. matinee ($9). Agassiz Theatere. (LFL)

MUSIC | Solo Tutti

The Fromm Players present “Solo Tutti: The Evolution of the Concerto and the Soloist,” a two-day festival of music featuring large, rarely performed works and an examination of the relationship between soloist and ensemble. Friday’s program features Salvatore Sciarrino’s Hermes; Elliot Carter’s Double Concerto for Harpsichord; Mario Davidovsky’s Synchronisms No. 6 for piano and tape; and Giancento Scelsi’s Anahit. Saturday’s program includes George Crumb’s Vox Balaenae; George Ligeti’s Cello Concerto; Bernard Rands’ Concertino for oboe; and Tristan Murail’s Ethers. A discussion with composers Mario Davidovsky and Bernard Rands to follow on both days. Admission free. 8 p.m. Paine Hall. (LFL)

THEATER | Betrayal

Told chronologically in reverse order, Harold Pinter’s classic Betrayal explores the stages of an adulterous affair and the mess of lies that leads to the gradual deterioration of a friendship, a marriage, and eventually the affair itself. This multimedia production explores the intersection of memory, fantasy, and the cruelty of reality itself. Directed by Benjamin J. Toff ’05. Free tickets available at the Loeb Box Office. Thursday 8pm; Friday 7pm, 9pm; Saturday 2, 7, 9 pm. Loeb Experimental Theatre, 64 Brattle Street. (JJH)

THEATER | Trojan Women

From the Athena Theatre Company, who brought you the Valentine’s Day edition of the Vagina Monologues, comes one of Euripides’ lesser known plays. Trojan Women, first staged and produced in 415 BC, is a portrayal of a tragic situation whereby Euripides dramatizes the postwar conditions of the women of Troy and describes the spoils of war. Runs March 11-13. Tickets $6. 8 p.m. Agassiz Theatre. (GCS)

THEATER | The Birthday Party

The American Repertory Theater presents The Birthday Party, one of the great black comedies of the twentieth century, returning to the stage under visionary director JoAnne Akalaitis. First premiered in 1958, Harold Pinter’s story is one of peril and intrigue in a rundown English boarding house. Runs through March 6-27. Tickets $35 – $69, $12 student tickets available day of show. 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. weekdays. Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St. (LFL)

VISUALS | Life as Art

This ongoing exhibit presents a close look back at the careers of painters Gregory and Frances Cohen Gilespie. The exhibition consists of 25 paintings in all, and is a representative look at the influential styles of both artists. The two artists catch the interest of many because of the way in which they influenced each other through their portrayals of realism in early Italian and Flemish painting. Runs through March 28. Sackler Museum. (GCS)

VISUALS | Vac BOS

This year’s annual Vac BOS display marks the 40th anniversary of the student-curated exhibition on the architect Le Corbusier. This event also commemorates 40 years of great shows for the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. This showing will feature a lecture by Francesco Passanti on March 11. There will be a reception following the 6 p.m lecture. Runs March 11-18. Carpenter Center. (GCS)

VISUALS | Gary Schneider: Portraits

The first major exhibition to bring together a full range of photographer Gary Schneider’s work. Schneider’s fascination with science, work with found objects, and use of biography and autobiography are all part of the new exhibit, and display his roots in the post-minimal conceptual art of the 1970s. Runs through June 13. Tickets $5, free admission for Harvard ID holders and visitors on Saturdays until noon. Sackler Museum, 32 Quincy St. (LFL)